1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a personal computer based information system for a PBX having display phone capability and, more particularly, to an interface for an individual multiline character display phone instrument which manages and assembles call information sent to the character display phone by the PBX switch into RS232 format and transmits it to the PC.
2. History of the Prior Art
Today numerous manufacturers offer private branch exchange (PBX) telephone systems which include switching equipment and individual stations having the capability of displaying a plurality of characters of call information at each telephone instrument. Such system includes the capability of transmitting for each call sent to the station an encoded signal indicative of the multi-digit extension number of the calling party, followed by the extension number of the called party. Where applicable, the encoded signal also included the extension number of the first alternate extension to the called party number to which the call had been previously referred before being sent to the second alternate extension being rung. In the event the calling party is not another extension number within the PBX system, but rather an outside line, it can be identified on the display by a trunk number or some other identification indicative of the source of the call.
Call information on a character display phone enables the person who is answering several lines in an office, for example from an instrument having access to five different incoming lines, to answer the telephone in a "custom configured" fashion by knowing: (a) where the call is coming from (e.g., the President's office or the Phoenix WATS line); (b) which extension the call was originally intended for (e.g., Mr. Jones); and (c) that when Mr. Jones' line was busy or he did not answer after a predetermined number of rings the call had previously been forwarded to his secretary's extension, Ms. Smith, who is out ill that day. Thus, the individual answering the phone may say, "Mr. Jones' office, Ms. Smith his secretary is out sick today, this is Ms. Donovan, may I help you?". This mode of "custom configuring" the answering of the telephone by the answering operator gives a much more professional appearance to the office of the individual who's phone is being answered.
In addition, the person who is answering the line knows from the first set of digits on the character display phone that the call is coming from either an in-house station, the number of which may be recognized, or from a certain outside trunk. For example, individual trunks may be assigned to particular geographic regions or particular subsidiary companies and the answering party will know, for example, that the call is coming from the WATS line assigned to Phoenix callers, or from the number listed for a particular company name. This gives an additional professional appearance to the answering operator since it is known where the call is coming from or for which company the call is intended at the time the phone is answered.
One limitation of such display phone systems is the ability of the answering operator to memorize numbers. Since all the call information shown on the character display of the telephone instrument is numerical, only a limited quantity of extension and trunk numbers will be so frequently occurring that the answering party will have committed them to memory. A thorough familiarity with numerous trunk and extension numbers is essential to maximize the custom answering features enabled by the capability of the character display phone system.
For this reason, certain of these character display telephone systems also include memory and software within their own PBX switching equipment to be able to make the job of the answering operator easier by decoding the extension number within the switching equipment and simply showing on the character display of the telephone instrument the name of the calling and called parties, rather than the numbers. This is a great assistance when the answering operator has to deal with several lines and is unable to retain in memory all the information necessary to make maximum utilization of the telephone system. However, these systems are also limited to, usually, four letters for each trunk or extension number including each individual who's phone might be answered, which begins to tax an operator's memory as the number of possibilities increases.
Such character display phone systems operate quite efficiently as long as the answering operator only has to deal with a limited number of lines being terminated in and answered at the individual character display phone station. When a character display phone instrument is used as a message center where the answering operator may be answering calls for as many as a hundred or more different stations the problem becomes exceedingly complex. It is virtually impossible for the operator to "custom answer" so many lines by knowing the extension and code numbers of each of the potentially called stations or the potentially calling stations or trunks being connected successively, on a rotary basis one after the other, into any one of, for example, five lines terminated at that individual display instrument.
In addition, the message taking operation itself is also quite difficult when the answering operator is required to fill out a paper message slip for up to a hundred different stations for which she is answering calls. This requires a fairly complex system of collating and storing the messages and in order to be able to deliver them quickly to the party for whom the message is left upon their request.
To address custom answering and messaging for numerous lines many prior art telephone answering systems have incorporated computers to automate the handling of incoming calls for a plurality of different parties. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,375,582 to Gist et al each incoming trunk is assigned to an individual line number and when that trunk is actuated, data is accessed within a computer memory and used to produce a display on the screen of a terminal indicating to the answering operator the name and certain information about the called party. These data are accessed remotely by conventional down line loading methods. The Gist et al system requires that an individual trunk be assigned and dedicated to each individual party for whom answering is to be done. This seriously limits the flexibility of the system and limits its use only to professional answering services, and, even there creates certain serious system limitations.
The system of the present invention overcomes these disadvantages by allowing a single telephone instrument having a limited number of incoming lines to be interfaced with a conventional personal computer or other terminal by means of an RS232 interface. As call information data comes from the switching system of the display phone PBX equipment, it is managed, reformatted, and passed on to the PC via the RS232 interface so that the PC can access stored information and produce a display showing names of calling, called and first alternate parties for guidance of the answering operator. The PC monitor display may also show other data associated with the calling or called numbers such as hours of operation, referral schedules and phone numbers for out of town parties, etc. In addition, the PC allows the answering operator to receive, organize and hold any messages for the called party which may result from the answered telephone transaction.